Thanks Kelvin,
Sorry I doubted you! Actually, I have a set of late seats in my '65 with
the original style covers in vinyl. They were done for me back in 1986, and
I don't know for sure if they are stock covers or not, but they sure look
like it. The guy who did them is deceased, so I can't ask what they are.
Every seam is identical to stock, and the seats were cheap enough that I
have to believe they were not custom made. I could send you a photo if you
like.
Could you grab a set of early and late covers and lay the backs over one
another to verify that the frame shape is indeed significantly different? I
think there is a good chance that the early covers will work with early
foams on the late frames.
P.S., Moss's classic covers are an option if my plan won't work, but they
are very different from the early design. Also, do these kits come with
enough material and piping to cover the early door top rails?
Thanks!
Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: Dodd, Kelvin [mailto:doddk@mossmotors.com]
Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 9:29 AM
To: 'Stuart MacMillan'; mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: RE: The leather seat thread prompts a question....
Geez, that's what I get for not reading my mail over the weekend.
>> I've emailed Kelvin Dodd on this issue too, but I doubt that
> he will know. I
> may be the only person who has ever asked, at least that's
> what customer
> service said when I called Moss.
>
>
Stuart:
The later seat frames will bolt into the early car with no problem. The
early seat kits will probably not fit on the late frames though.
The early seat backs have very thin, compressible foams with the center
support provided by vertical steel reinforcement tubes. This allows the
seat back assembly to be thin. The later back frames are stronger, and have
a recline mechanism built in. Even if the early foam was used on these
backs, I don't think the early covers would stretch over the heavier tubing
and ratchet mechanisms.
True, I've never tried to put the early kit on the later frames, but I have
installed the early kits, and the later kits and know how tight the
tolerances are. To look correct the early seat back covers have to stretch
tightly over the frame, which is definitely a different shape than the later
one.
Obviously a good upholstery shop can make up anything, but as an alternative
Moss does offer leather seat kits for the 70-80 frames and foams which are
patterned on the earlier 62-68 design. These are available to match the
popular early panel kit colors such as Black/Wht, Black/Red etc. This may
be an option for you.
good luck
Kelvin.
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